Our tennis program unfortunately will be saying goodbye to one of the best tennis coaches in Holy Innocents' history, as former boys' coach and current Director of Operations Ashton Williams is moving on after ten years at the helm.
 
Ashton spent four years as head boys' coach before moving into the Director of Operations role for the next six. 
 
"I remember when it was my second year here, the athletic director at the time – Ruth Donahoo – asked me if I wanted to be the head tennis coach. I said no," Ashton said with a laugh.
 
Still, he accepted, he learned, and in his first four years with the boys, he guided them to two Sweet 16 finishes and one Elite 8. Moving into his Director role, the boys put together two Final Four seasons and one runner-up, while the girls had three Final Fours and a state championship last Wednesday.
 
How exactly did it feel to have the last match end as state champions?
 
"I took my daughter to the match just in case it happened – in case we won it," he said. "We played a very good Mt. Bethel team and knew it'd be close. Still, back in August, Jeri Finlay and I sat down, and we knew we had the pieces, a good team, but we needed to stay healthy and get a good draw.
"To put all that together for that big moment, and to see them come through like that did… it was special. It was a moment 10 years in the making."
 
Moving back, Ashton's decision to step out of the coaching role and into the administrative side, to say the least, helped make this possible. "I wanted to free up the coaches where they could coach; I could take care of the scheduling and all that comes with it. I feel this ended up being a successful move."
 
It was – and the numbers back him up, as HIES just finished arguably the best decade in tennis history, ending in story-book moment with the girls' title in Rome last Wednesday. 
 
Looking at the whole program, and again unfortunately, boys' coach Laura Clark will be stepping down after seven successful years, one that included a trip to the finals as well as some Final Four, Elite 8, and Round of 16 years.
 
"Laura had the right mindset to coach the boys," Ashton said. "She created a sense of community and a vibe that's hard to create. The boys had fun, they played for each other, and they played together."
 
Moving ahead, Coach Finlay will move into a larger administrative role upon Ashton's departure, while the new boys' coach will be announced shortly. 
 
Looking at it all, a good program is all about piecing things together, a little at a time. To say the least, that's been done over the years, and the plaques on our gym wall gives evidence of it.
 
Not bad decade of work for the staff, and not bad for Ashton either, especially considering he didn't want the job ten years ago.